Service Station and Convenience Retailing Joint Ventures in Europe

Introduction

In recent years there has been a surge of joint-ventures between fuel and convenience retailers across Europe. Through these collaborations, oil companies have sought the expertise of convenience retailers to improve their shop proposition while convenience retailers have used service stations as an additional growth channel. The maximum potential for new partnerships lies in CEE Europe.

Features and benefits

• Make informed decisions about convenience retail partnerships by examining the advantages and features of ongoing and former joint-ventures.
• Identify partnership opportunities by assessing the forecourt shop numbers, customer footfall and partnership likelihood for various fuel retailers.
• Recognize potential convenience retail partners in the growth markets by assessing the store expansion and growth strategies of the major players.
• Devise new marketing and branding strategies by examining the case studies of various fuel and convenience retail partnerships across Europe.

Highlights

Major European grocers have renewed their interest in c-store formats and are looking at expanding their store networks. Given their advantages of location, trading hours and oil company-brand name, service stations present an excellent growth channel for convenience retailers.

While Esso’s service stations with On the Run shops are typically located on busy transient routes catering to drive-through motorists, stations with Tesco Express stores are located in dense residential areas. Unlike the BP-M&S joint-venture, the stores and service stations under the partnership are not co-branded.

Central and Eastern European countries present the greatest potential for new collaborations as the proportion of service stations with shops is increasing, thereby supporting the development of the shop offer. Moreover, national and international retailers are looking for growth opportunities for the expansion of their footprints in these markets.

Your key questions answered

• Which fuel and convenience retailers have ongoing partnerships across Europe and what are the key motivations and highlights of such ventures?
• Which European markets offer the maximum scope for new partnerships and which fuel retailers operating in these markets can be potential targets?
• Who are the major convenience retailers in the growth markets and why they may be interested in partnering with oil companies?
• Who are the top fuel retailers by the number of service station shops across various markets in Europe and what is their partnership likelihood?